MEDIA TALK; A Way to Start Up Book Sales

By MARIA ASPAN

Published: September 11, 2006

The recent movie ''Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby'' parodied Nascar's ability to drape itself in all kinds of product placement. But even the movie could not anticipate the newest Nascar ad -- the first book advertised on the front of a racecar.

An ad for ''The Book of Fate,'' a thriller by Brad Meltzer that opens with a scene at Daytona International Speedway, was featured on the hood of the FitzBradshaw racing team's No. 12 car in the Busch Series race on Friday (the car finished 32nd). Mr. Meltzer declined to say how much the ad, a modest white circle with his name under the book's title, cost. But he was enthusiastic about being the first to publicize a book on a Nascar platform.

''The best we can do is to be the first at anything, in terms of trying something new and different,'' Mr. Meltzer said. ''Some authors will say, 'I don't want to be on a Nascar car because I'm above that' and I'm like, 'That sounds like a great idea.' '' In addition to the racecar ad, an interview with Mr. Meltzer by a driver, David Stremme, is on nascar.com.

Other parts of the entertainment industry have already taken advantage of auto racing's large audiences and prominent advertising opportunities. The racecar of Kevin Harvick, who won the Chevy Rock and Roll 400 race on Saturday, featured an ad for the rock group Barenaked Ladies. The group, which also played before the race, is the latest in a diverse set of musicians to pursue Nascar sponsorship, including Green Day, Kiss and LeAnn Rimes.

Mr. Meltzer, who began his career in marketing before moving to novels, comic books and television, is also advertising his book through a ''blog tour'' of interviews. The tour strays far from Nascar; interviewers include the president's mother, Barbara Bush, and Damon Lindelof, a creator of the ''Lost'' television series.

''What is spectacular about the book industry,'' Mr. Meltzer said, ''is that it has no idea of its own demographics, no Nielsens, no way to track who is reading your book. Why would you be foolish and market to just one tiny demographic?'' MARIA ASPAN